I lost count.....

[GF.]

Near Estes Park, CO. ... Rocky Mtn . Nat'l Park region



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SxxOTkfKPk

[JustaNobody]

Nice vid, I enjoyed it.

[Bill Gunn]

My wife and I drove through Estes Park coming back from a hunt once.
It's a really nice looking place, and we even talked about retiring in that area.

The Thompson River Gorge is really beautiful along Rt 34.

[Bushman]

I'm always on the look out for possible retirement places. I've just got a 17 year old to educate then I'm free as a bird. Sis and mom live in Montana and I've hunted in Colorado and retiring where the deer and the antelope play and maybe the elk does hold a certain fascination for me. I'm sitting on some family lake property up north that will go on the block when mom passes on plus this place and a couple of rentals so I should be able to swing a place west of here some where. I'm always open to suggestions. It kind of looks like a bull elk in that Estes Park area would wear a perpetual smile on his face. The Thompson River Gorge you say?

[Bill Gunn]

Estes Park is one of the nicest places I have ever seen, but I don't know if I could afford to live there.
There's a lot of places in Colorado that have been priced out of the regular persons ability to afford because of all the money imported from California.
I was told in Vail Colorado that if you "Work" in Vail, you can't afford to "Live" in Vail. Even the stop signs are trimmed in hardwood on the streets !!!

Many mountainous places in Colorado get pretty cold and lonely in the dead of winter if you don't ski 7 days a week !


http://www.estesparkcvb.com/

[GF.]

Anywhere that relies on tourism for the basis of its economy, you can pretty well forget about living there unless you can afford to live on a vacation-style budget.... And of course, that's not just CO, but it does get ridiculous there in a hurry... I recall some years back when anyone in Aspen who made under a quarter-million dollars per year was qualifying for subsidized housing :eek:. Gary Trudeau had some fun with that one, boy!

But yeah, a lot of the folks who work for the resorts have to live an hour or more away, and usually i a trailer park at that. I drive that far every day for a pretty decent paycheck, all things considered, but these folks are doing it for minimum wage in many cases... My wife used to be a full-time ski instructor (with a day job as art director for the local paper) and she still has friends up there who all still work a couple of jobs just so they can keep on living where they want to live, even though they mostly all drive into Denver once a week to buy all their groceries and what-not. Local businesses either provide a substantial "Locals' Discount" or kiss off the locals' business entirely. Nobody who lives there can afford the premium...

Tell you what, though... If we can ever afford to retire out there - or anywhere with a hill and a lift - my wife & I will be the two skiin'-est little retirees you ever met :D

[Wild_Bill_Hiccup]

I'm always on the look out for possible retirement places.... Sis and mom live in Montana and I've hunted in Colorado and retiring where the deer and the antelope play and maybe the elk does hold a certain fascination for me.... I'm always open to suggestions....

I'm not sure when you're really planning your purchase or your price range... but it just so happens that my younger brother has his place on the market here in Montana (Darby area... east side of Selway Bitterroot Wilderness Area).

Its a very nice place (quality marble & tile work, sauna and spa, beautiful trophy room and bar area, etc ) with privacy and elk and deer right outside the door... creek, small pond... views into large meadow... 23 acres... only minutes to town on excellent roads.

http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs162.snc3/18940_1181113049704_1284518409_30431011_6347831_n. jpg

http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs162.snc3/18940_1181113089705_1284518409_30431012_2246397_n. jpg

http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs182.snc3/18940_1181113209708_1284518409_30431014_628772_n.j pg

http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs162.snc3/18940_1181113169707_1284518409_30431013_4871971_n. jpg

http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs182.snc3/18940_1181113249709_1284518409_30431015_4845551_n. jpg

http://hphotos-snc1.fbcdn.net/hs235.snc1/8223_1132144985533_1284518409_30324223_5039033_n.j pg

Asking price is $1,975,000

[Wild_Bill_Hiccup]

Small herd of elk right off back porch...

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh65/wild_bill_hiccup/DSC01311.jpg

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh65/wild_bill_hiccup/DSC01310.jpg

There are some construction materials in the one pic... that crap isn't there now. ;)

[Bushman]

Just where is he going where he thinks it would be better than that? Sis gave up being the Medical Residence Director for the University Of Minnesota to just family practice out in Whitefish, MT. Then I got to reading one of my North American Whitetail magazines about where Dick Idol (one of the ground floor North American Whitetail Magazine contributing editors) went after he retired... Whitefish, MT. and he and sis don't live five miles apart from one another. When I was out there this summer I got to talking to one of the sport shop owners. They all know Dick out there. "Yeah, he hunts that 170" area mostly." Say what? A 170" area sounds kind of interesting to me. He could have moved anywhere in the country and he moved to MT.

It is pretty amazing where property values have gone out there this last ten years. Sis was looking at buying into 160 acres on Flathead Lake. A group of them had an option to buy for like 17M and inside of a couple of years the asking price went up to over 30M. I told her that it is a real estate agent and banker's way of telling them that they were out of their minds. Some rich guy from CA. will probably snap it up as a bargain!!!

[Wild_Bill_Hiccup]

Yep, Bushman, many celebs live here... several very near my brothers place... Hollywood and music industry ilk, mainly (I'll keep the names reserved to private messages, but the fellas themselves are nice enough folks). They don't last around Darby long if they are not 'into the local scene', so to speak... loggers, outfitters and cowboys are rather blunt people. Not that all of these celebs are 100% normal, mind you, but they tend to get along with the locals and play nice... mostly. ;) I consider a few among my friends.

I think Whitefish actually caught on to the celebs before the Bitterroot did. I mean, we had Hank Jr early on, and few others, but most moved in here after the late 80s - early 90s. And, yep, prices have really went up from that point.

My brother is looking to relocate to the central Montana ranch where we do the bulk of our 'premium hunts'.

[Bushman]

Darby is a whole bunch west isn't it? Sure doesn't look like much between there and the Idaho border. Central Montana??? Man, I know where all my whole grains come from after driving through that state. I felt kind of sorry for the guy on the combine. When you get out to the horizon, turn around and come back. Repeat as necessary until boredom overtakes you. It is probably where the idea of crop circles originated from. I was going to stop and take a picture of one tree, one, for as far as you could see in any direction. Pretty funny for a guy from WI. where trees are a cash crop.

[Wild_Bill_Hiccup]

Yep, Darby and Hamilton are basically on the Idaho line.

Parts of central Montana are sure enough open and deserted! Where we hunt over there, however, is much nicer country... lots of rimrock and broken/hill country with plenty of Ponderosa Pine trees (Bull Mountains and surroundings). There are still some big stretches of open prairie, however... that'd be where the antelope play... ;)

[JustaNobody]

That is a nice house Bill. If I had 2 million, I'd be considering it. I know the real estate market there is still steady and will probably go much higher yet in the next several years......... the strength of the draw to western MT is amazing. Guys like Hank Williams Jr have always been a good spokesperson for the area. Man, I still remember first hearing that little song of his about the area... "Montana Cafe".... great little tune. I was in the Montana Cafe in Darby about 9 years ago.... John Lithgow(sp?) actor was eating in there with his family..... shocked me to see him there! and when I asked the young waitress she seemed very normal about it, said all the hollywood people stop it....... said Christopher Lloyd lives there too and many of the old "Happy Days" actors were in often. I didnt think of 'Richie Cunningham' hanging out in Montana! :D

[Wild_Bill_Hiccup]

Yep, JustaNobody, there is quite a Hollywood crew that comes up to the Darby/Hamilton area on a regular basis. But, it still is a nice place to live! ;)

Hank has been around for years, but his Bitterroot place is further north, near Victor, and of course he has his Big Hole place, near where he fell off Ajax Mountain. It was never much of a 'hit' but that song of Hank's does bring back memories.... he wrote/recorded others that were at least partially connected with this area and Montana in general. He fell in love with Montana a long time ago...

For those who haven't heard the song that JustaNobody is referring to... here it is:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOYWRgBKCWc

P.S. The original Montana Cafe was in Hamilton... torn down for a damn mini-mall... and that's kinda what prompted the song as a bit of memorial.